The Summer of Music

Well as most of you know other than trying to be a good husband and good father, my other vices are sports, movies and of course music. On the verge of it being summer for me with only a few weeks left of sports at work, I am now looking toward my summer. I have purchased my ACL Festival pass and now looking to purchase some tickets for Kristen and I to see Passion Pit in Austin over the summer. My next step is to figure out a kid friendly show to take Sloan to. With most of things planned for this summer, I am now focusing my attention to who might be at ACL and who I hope is at ACL in October.

I have scoured all the rumor mills for some hints at what the line-up is, and had some ways of finding out if certain bands are for sure there. Right now the only rumor that can be classified as the worst ever is that the Eagles might be the headliner. Which to me just shows how out of touch concert promoters are with festival goers. Don’t get me wrong, The Eagles are alright, but not something that I want to see. I know that I am more interested in the mid-level acts during the day and if that night’s headliner is good it will make the day more enjoyable, but it’s going to be hard to surpass having Pearl Jam there last year.

I just hope that the first time I go to a huge music festival for three days, that the concert promoters don’t drop the ball and get a bad headliner. They sucked me in last year with the one day I went and there were band after great band there. I do have my fingers crossed that some of the rumors will come true. Here is my wishlist of the rumors I have heard that might be there:

The Flaming Lips
Phoenix
Jay-Z
The Black Keys
Muse
Metric
Band of Horses
The National
Phish
Weezer
Vampire Weekend
Arcade Fire
The Strokes
Gorillaz
MGMT
Los Campesinos

Of course I could just keep listing bands I want to see, but those are by far the best of the rumor mill for me. I do know for a fact that The Flaming Lips and Blues Traveler will be there. I have see BT and they always put on a good show, but the Lips would be amazing to see live. I guess I will have to wait and keep searching until the line-up is announced on May 18th. Then I have to sit and wait until October to be able to go. The positive thing out of this is, I have something to look forward too after my trip to San Francisco and seeing Passion Pit with Kristen. Right now it’s like a little island on the distant horizon that is far enough out of reach but close enough to see, I just have to contain myself until October get here. Please C3 no Eagles, please.

This week’s music:
I have to say that I haven’t got very much music here lately. Although this next month is like music nirvana for me. I think almost everyone of my recent favorite bands are coming out with an album in May. I even get a taste of the old with Stone Temple Pilots album, and I get my garage blues satisfied with one of the best bands around The Black Keys. Not to mention a new Nationals album, it’s starting to look like a good summer.

Muse- The Resistance
Well, I have been hearing a lot about Muse and all of their albums, so I decided to jump in and listen to their newest album The Resistance. I really feel they sound like The Killers, the White Lies, etc. atleast in style. I really do like them, and the rumor is they will be at ACL this year. I am going to have to go back and listen to some of their older stuff now as well. I like the songs Resistance and Uprising.

The Muslims/ The Soft Pack
The reason I am putting both of these bands together is the fact that they are the same bands. They are out of San Diego and I am really hoping that they are at ACL, I would love to see them there. They changed their name due to “ignorant and racists” comments toward them to the Soft Pack. This is a really good band and I like the songs Beside Myself (Muslims) and More or Less (The Soft Pack).

MGMT-Congratulations
This is their second album and was eagerly anticipated by many to see if they could top their debut album of 2008. I have given this album a few listens and it’s starting to grow on me. If you are expecting them to pull out some of the same off of Oracular Spectacular then you might want to skip this album. I have enjoyed the fact they are expanding what they gave us in the first album to this one. Check out the song Flash Delirium.

Why Rolling Stone, why?

I am always eager to get my Rolling Stone in the mail and here in not long my Spin as well. I try not to sneak a peak at what the covers are going to be so not to spoil a surprise or to anger me before it comes in. Well I have to say Rolling Stone has fallen very very very short with this issue. I have to say this cover and who they have as the #1 reason to be excited about music almost made me cancel my subscription.

As most of my friends know I am very opinionated about music, and I threw up in my mouth a little when they had the Jonas Brothers on the cover. Most of the time I blow off the covers when I know that the band or singer is a fad at the time (Lady Gaga), it’s hard for me to forgive them, but I do. To get to my point they have for some drug induced reason have deemed the Black Eyed Peas the #1 reason to be excited for music. The #1 reason, they aren’t even in my 1 millionth reason to be excited for music. This group has not only ruined music, they have made a deal with the devil as well. If you like pop music, the BEP are gods. I have to say for music as a whole, BEP does not hold a candle or match to some of the bands and performers out right now.

This is a dark sad day for music and the Rolling Stone. Don’t get me wrong I am sure they put on a great show, but to be thrusted up to #1, I don’t feel they are worthy. I am sorry Rolling Stone, but I am afraid you are wrong with this.

Now, on to more important things, and the fact that I got my 3-Day pass to the Austin City Limits Festival this fall. I decided to throw caution into the wind and bought the pass without knowing what bands are going to be there. I do know of two bands that are and that are Blues Traveler and The Flaming Lips. I have seen BT and they should be great, I am really excited to see Oklahoma’s own Flaming Lips perform. I am praying to the music gods and my boy Dees that we some how get backstage passes when they play. So I have my first excitement of the summer and I still have to wait 6 months until the festival.

I do have another show to be excited for and that is Passion Pit in Austin when I get back from California. Plus what’s even better is Kristen is actually going to go with me to see them. So that will make going to the show even better. Of course she will have to break her bedtime rule of 9 P.M. and stay up a little later. So far my summer is starting to shape up pretty well. Now I just need to get through about 10 baseball games and my summer officially starts.

This week’s Music:
It has been a few weeks since I last wrote my blog and I have, as always, got a lot of music since then. So here is a list of albums (new and old) that I am listening to right now.

NonStopErotik- Black Francis
Man Up- The Blue Van
Behave Yourself EP- Cold War Kids
Beyond- Dinosaur Jr.
Shame, Shame- Dr. Dog
Congratulations- MGMT

It’s hard being old school

So for the first time in a long time we got to spend a weekend as a family. We decided to go up to Dallas and see Oklahoma City play basketball against the Mavs, take Sloan ice skating at the Galleria and stop by and see my best friend Boyd and eat at his restaurant.

I had a mission while at the mall, I wanted to find a new Mets shirt and I wanted to get a new pair of Adidas shell toes. I haven’t had a pair in a long time, and they are probably one of my most favorite types of old school shoes. That was what I was looking for at the mall that day. I really just wanted to find my favorite shoes while shopping.

So after eating and watching Sloan trying not to fall down on ice skates while almost pulling down Kristen, we decided to go and hit the mall. At one time Kristen and I went our separate ways and I went on my mission. I soon struck out and didn’t find what I was looking for. No Mets shirts anywhere, and I found some adidas, but not in my size. I decided that I would probably find them back in Waco and didn’t pay it any attention.

We went on to eat at Las Colinas, Jason’s restaurant he manages at and got our fill of some amazing Mexican food. For those of you in Dallas, go eat there, great food and mixed drinks. We hung out there for a little while, and Sloan got to meet Boyd and get important information about Elvis his dog. We changed into our clothes for the game and went to see OKC play the Mavericks and had a great time.

So, on Monday I had the day off and decided I would go to the mall to see if I could get my shoes. After walking to every shoe store in the mall, I was shocked to find out that they not only didn’t have my old school kicks anywhere, but they didn’t have any Adidas at all. I have stated before that I love sneakers, and more importantly I love old school sneakers. They just have more appeal and character than the newer styles. I know Nike is a huge seller, but no Adidas at all?

As I was driving home, I had to resign to the face that not only is it hard for me to find decent old school kicks, but I am now going to have to start shopping on-line to get them. I am done for a while with some of my canvas shoes, I have two pair of vans and a pair of chucks. If anything I will move on to get another pair of Simple Shoes at some point. I guess that I will have to walk into Champs one day with a boom box and play “My Adidas” at full blast for them to get the point. Us old school folk like our adidas and want them now, not in 7-10 days after ordering them. Bottom line is, its hard being old school, but don’t worry RUN D.M.C I will get my adidas.

Music for the week:
Here is the music for the week, I am starting to feel very optimistic about the new stuff being released. I am loving everything so far.

The Bird and the Bee- Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1- A tribute to Hall and Oates
Yes, you read that title correctly, and for those of you that know me, know I hate 80’s music. I have to say this duo from LA do a great job of playing these cover songs in their own style. I have to admit it, sometimes you forget how good some of Hall and Oats songs were, atleast in the Bird and the Bee arrangements.

Frightened Rabbit- The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Ok, for those of you that have been around me or have asked me lately what my favorite band I am listening to right now, the answer will probably be Frightened Rabbit. I love the two albums that I have and this one is probably one of the best albums that has been released in the past few months. I am begging those of you that read my music recommendations to go out and get this album, or atleast get The Midnight Organ Fight, you won’t be disappointed.

Neon Trees- Habits
I decided to pick up this albums because I liked their first single off this album called “Animal”. I was a little surprised that they started out in Provo, UT and eventually moved to Southern Cal. They got their break when they opened up for the Killers on tour. If you like The Killers, and Mute Math you will like Neon Trees. It’s a good album, not as good as I had hoped, but it’s a good pick me up.